U.S. soybean imports to China from the U.S. accelerated in May, up 156% from a year earlier

China’s soybean imports to China from the United States accelerated in May, rising 156 percent from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, while shipments from Brazil fell for the first time this year due to flooding in that South American country.

The world’s biggest soybean buyer imported 1.27 million tons of the oilseed from the U.S. last month, down from 494,103 tons in the same month a year earlier, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

That’s still far less than imports from Brazil (8.8 million tons), which accounted for most of the 10.22 million tons of soybeans imported by China in May, oilworld.co.uk quoted Reuters as saying.

U.S. soybean sales to China have been sluggish this year as traders have taken advantage of cheaper and more abundant Brazilian soybeans.

Still, arrivals in May from Brazil were down 19% from a year earlier.

Brazil’s soybean harvest season, which began around March, is nearly over, the country’s national crop agency said last week.

The agency slightly lowered Brazil’s soybean production forecast after unprecedented rain in the southern part of the country damaged some of the crop.

Soybean prices are down from a six-week high, but Brazil’s crop problems are limiting the drop

For January-May, shipments from Brazil totaled 24.71 million tons, up 23% from the same period last year.

Shipments from the U.S. totaled 10.85 million tons in the first five months of the year, down 34% from the previous year, the data showed. China imported 212,492 tons of soybeans from Argentina in the five-month period, although data showed no shipments in May.

Tags: China, soybean, USA